Content
- Do cats feel heat?
- Symptoms of a hot cat
- Hyperthermia in cats
- Ideal room temperature for cats
- What to do to prevent heat in cats
As the hottest months of the year approach, our cats reduce their activity and tend to hide, especially in places where temperatures exceed 30ºC and there is no air conditioning. You cats suffer a lot from the heat, especially those who are overweight or suffering from some illness.
Excessive heat affects your health and can cause a heat stroke or hyperthermia, when the body temperature rises above that considered physiological for cats.
A cat that cleans itself too much, drinks more water than usual, is depressed, hides around the house, or lies down on cold surfaces such as the floor or bathtub is showing that it has begun to feel hot. If, in addition, he also has breathing difficulties or a bluish discoloration of the mucous membranes and skin, it is necessary to act immediately.
if you ask yourself how to know if the cat is hot, continue reading this PeritoAnimal article to identify the symptoms of heat, as well as what you can do to prevent it.
Do cats feel heat?
Yes, cats feel hot. Cats use the energy they get from food for growth, metabolism and movement. The residues from these processes generate the heat needed to maintain the correct body temperature.
When if dissipates less heat than is produced, the cat has the feeling of heat. On the contrary, when more heat dissipates than produced, the cat will feel cold. Cats are able to regulate their body temperature by several degrees so they don't feel hot or cold. But when the ambient temperature is warmer, cats, just like us, will feel hot.
Symptoms of a hot cat
Although domestic cats are descended from wild desert cats, heat still affects them.That's why, in the hottest months of the year, its activity can be reduced to the point that, in some cases, the cat stays hidden in the coolest and darkest places for the whole day to protect itself from the high temperatures.
As a curiosity, cats do not have sweat glands distributed over the entire surface of the body like us, but only on the foot pads.
In addition to this behavior, the symptoms that may indicate that a cat is feeling hot are as follows:
- Increased water consumption to compensate for losses, improve hydration and refresh the body. You must be careful with this symptom, as it can also indicate the existence of pathologies such as diabetes or kidney disease.
- Weakness.
- Inactivity.
- bluish or purplish tongue.
- hypersalivation.
- muscle tremors.
- over-cleaning.
Hyperthermia in cats
When outdoor temperatures are very high and cats are not protected, they can suffer from hyperthermia or heat stroke, raising their temperature above 39.2°C, which is the highest body temperature that can be considered normal for cats.
Elevated body temperature can cause the hot cat different clinical signs, such as:
- pant excessively.
- Breathingchanged, being able to keep accelerated even at rest or present serious difficulties.
- tremors.
- Convulsions.
- Difficulty maintaining posture.
- vomiting.
- red rash on the skin.
- Bluish skin and mucous membranes due to lack of oxygen.
Ideal room temperature for cats
To find out if you are facing a hot cat, be aware that there is a temperature range in which cats can regulate their losses well to constantly maintain a good body temperature so that they do not feel hot or cold.
In general, cats are very comfortable when they are in temperatures. between 17 and 30°C, although it depends on the breed. Thus, although cats with little or no hair, such as the sphynx breed, have this range between 20 and 30 °C, cats with long or thick hair, such as Siberians, Maine Coon or Persians, keep it better between 15 and 25°C. Therefore, they tolerate heat worse than short-haired cats.
In this other article, you'll discover the different ways to cool your cat in the heat.
What to do to prevent heat in cats
Given the negative consequences that excessive heat can have on the health of our cats, we must protect them to prevent them from suffering from heat stroke or, simply, to relieve the stress that heat exerts on their bodies. Here are some tips to avoid being in front of a hot cat:
- take it to a cool place and ventilated.
- If the cat already shows signs of heat, your head, neck, back and groin can be moistened to cool it down and normalize its temperature.
- Avoid going out in the hottest hours or on days with more extreme temperatures.
- Always keep the water cooler with clean and fresh water and change it frequently. A good idea is to add ice cubes several times a day to keep it cool, or put in a cat fountain. Moving water encourages consumption, favoring adequate hydration.
- prevent overweight and obesity, providing adequate nutrition and promoting physical activity in everyday life, as overweight cats suffer more from the heat.
Now that you know how to identify if a hot cat, we recommend reading this other article where we talk about cat care in summer.
Also, in the following video from PeritoAnimal's YouTube channel, you'll see more information on how to tell if a cat is hot with tips to protect it:
This article is for information purposes only, at PeritoAnimal.com.br we are not able to prescribe veterinary treatments or perform any type of diagnosis. We suggest that you take your pet to the veterinarian in case it has any type of condition or discomfort.
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